Heaven Sensky
Heaven Lee Sensky was born and raised on a small family farm in Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania where she has been an active community member in advocacy and non profit work since she was 13 years old. As a first generation college graduate, her passion to pave the way for others in her community encouraged her to pursue college in Washington, DC to study public policy and social structures. Heaven is a recent graduate of American University, where she studied Communications, Law Studies, Economics, and Government in addition to Women, Gender and Sexualities studies. She previously interned for The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwestern Pennsylvania, The American University Center for Diversity and Inclusion, United States Senator Bob Casey, and The Personal Office of Michelle and Barack Obama. After a very busy 3 ½ years in college, Heaven is eager to get to work protecting and defending Appalachia (and spending some much needed time with her new dog, Gizmo).
You can read more about Heaven in a recent article published by American University here. She can be reached at heaven@centerforcoalfieldjustice.org.
Posts by Heaven Sensky
On Monday March 4th, CCJ Organizer Jodi Borello and Organizing Director Heaven Sensky attended a Cecil Township Supervisors Meeting alongside Janice Blanock, a CCJ member and co-organizer of the group MAD-FACTS (Moms and Dads – Family Awareness of Cancer Threat Spike). The supervisors were slated to discuss and vote on the prospect of holding a […]
I’m sure like many of you, I found it difficult to sleep at night after the meeting about the results of the Pitt PA Health and Environment studies. Not because I was in despair, but because I was reeling with energy from the meeting. I was asked by a reporter what I was most angry about coming out of the meeting, and I paused to think of the crucial reason my stomach was turning. I found myself unable to, and responded that I was far more hopeful than I was angry.
When I first joined team CCJ back in 2019, I was tasked with supporting local community members in holding a Solar Festival in Greene County, the heart of Coal Country. Residents wanted to introduce the efficacy of solar power to their communities.
On March 9th, Union Township residents organized together to pressure their Board of Supervisors to delay a vote to approve the conditions for the Sarah Well Pad. They won an extension. Community members made it clear that they needed the Board of Supervisors to postpone their planned vote to approve EQT’s application for the Sarah […]
October 1, 2021— On September 21, public health advocacy groups Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania (PSR PA) and the SWPA Environmental Health Project (EHP) met for a fifth time with the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) to press the agency to consider a number of actions that would lower the risk of health impacts to residents from shale gas development emissions. Secretary Alison Beam and seven other DOH representatives attended the virtual meeting. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), including Deputy Secretary of the Office of Oil and Gas Management Scott Perry, also attended.
“It is always surreal for me, as an impacted resident, to watch others experience the grief of some of our neighbors whose lives have been uprooted by the oil and gas industry,” said Heaven Sensky, Community Organizer for Center for Coalfield Justice. “It is uncomfortable to put ourselves up for display, and sometimes I even forget how vastly different our lives are compared to those who hold the power to make decisions about our safety. I want to thank the DOH for being respectful witnesses to our suffering. I am hoping with everything that I am that they will carry with them what they have seen here and that they will do something about it.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Lois Bower-Bjornson, Southwestern Pennsylvania Field Organizer, Clean Air Council, 412-979-5509, lbb@cleanair.org Laura Dagley, Medical Advocacy Coordinator, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, 540-556-0132, laura@psrpa.org Ned Ketyer, Board Member, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, 724-255- 7440, ned@psrpa.org Stacey Magda, Community Organizer, Mountain Watershed Association, 724-455-4200 x9, stacey@mtwatershed.com Tammy Murphy, Advocacy Director, Physicians for […]
Despite the financial inconsistencies, the DOH seemed receptive to the ongoing request for a visit to Southwestern Pennsylvania. Heaven Sensky, Community Organizer for Center for Coalfield Justice, said, “It is absolutely imperative that representatives from the Department of Health, who are making decisions and drawing conclusions about our exposure to harmful fossil fuel extraction, come to our communities and witness themselves what we are facing. One cannot begin to understand the proximity and density of families whose homes and lives have been invaded by the fossil fuel industry without taking the time to witness it. We welcome the Department of Health to our community, and we hope that their experience here will better inform them moving forward with the study.”
This past Earth Week was busy for the CCJ team. We kicked off festivities on Saturday April 24th by supporting the Izaak Walton League Harry Enstrom Chapter of Greene County in their tree planting event at the State Gamelands in Garards Fort. Together with Izaak Walton League, CCJ Staff Heaven Sensky and Veronica Coptis, along […]
This is the 20th installment in our What’s on your mind? blog series and was written by CCJ Community Organizer Heaven Sensky. This past year has brought many new challenges to many of our families, including mine. I lost someone very young and dear to me to an accidental overdose this past fall. My loved […]